Steamy Lit Grand Opening

From the beginning, the mission at Steamy Lit has been to provide women romance authors of color and non-binary/genderqueer authors a platform to amplify their voices through their work while also empowering discourse around sexuality. Their ultimate goal is for you to embrace your sexuality and celebrate self-love.

On Saturday, February 24th a handful of romance writers came to celebrate the Grand Opening of Steamy Lit in Deerfield Beach, FL! One of my favorites, Ali Hazelwood among the authors there signing books.

Miami Book Fair

The Miami Book Fair is an annual street fair and literary festival organized by Miami Dade College. The weeklong gathering attracts more than 300 national and international authors every year and features pavilions for comics, children, and young adults,

Author Panels

Swoonworthy Spice & Everything Nice - YA Rom Coms

I was so excited for this sizzling panel with four young adult romance writers on juggling the entanglements in love and life. In The Secret Summer Promise by KEAH BROWN, Andrea spent last summer recovering from the latest surgery for her cerebral palsy, and is determined to make up for lost time with the Best Summer Ever List – which includes falling out of love with her best friend. In ALI HAZELWOOD’s Check & Mate, rook-ie Mallory inadvertently beats the current world champion and reigning Bad Boy of chess, and even as her love of the sport rekindles, she realizes that the games aren’t only on the board, and the competition can be fierce (-ly attractive. And intelligent … and infuriating …). In Love Radio by EBONY LADELLE, when Prince, a romantic DJ who dishes out advice to the brokenhearted while juggling heavy responsibilities at home, meets Dani, an ambitious writer focused on getting into her dream college, he only gets three dates to convince her that he’s worth falling for. In LAURA TAYLOR NAMEY’s A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak, Flora escapes from her family’s tea-shop business – and longtime friend Gordon Wallace – in England to Miami, which lands her in the flashbulb world of teen influencer Baz Marín, a Miami Cuban who shares her love of photography. Moderated by SAFON FLOYD, executive editor at Callisto Publishing, an imprint of Sourcebooks, and host of the monthly Books & BS book club.

Author Signings

I had the opportunity to also get some books signed. There is an opportunity to have some one on one time with your authors, buy books and get them signed! My highlights were Ali Hazelwood, Celeste Ng, and Laura Namey!

The best part is being able to add so many new books to my TBR list! It’s also so fun to meet new bookish friends in line or while sitting in panel discussions!

Travel from Orlando to Miami with Ease on the Brightline

Traffic can be such a burden! Finally the north south railway of Brightline is open making travel up and down Florida so much easier!

The Orlando stop is located at Orlando International Airport (MCO) near terminal C. Don’t worry you do not need to go into the airport or through typical airport security. Brightline has it’s only small terminal and security check point. Give yourself about 15-20 minutes to navigate in and remember to be ready to board 10 minutes before your departure time. The doors close on time and do not wait.

From Orlando you will cruise down to South Florida on a high speed railway. The first stop is West Palm Beach, then Boca, then Fort Lauderdale, then Aventura and finally Miami.

I typically take the train into the Fort Lauderdale stop which is off Broward Blvd. It’s a small station not too far from Downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Tickets can range in price from $29 - $139 each way depending on time of day and car you book. Make sure to check out their promo page for discounts!

Pumpkin Carving

Fall is officially here, even if the weather still feels like summer here in Florida. Tis the season for pumpkins, ghouls & goblins!

I put together a quick how to for craving a fun festive pumpkin!

Get your supplies

I decided to do a combination of carving and painting for my pumpkin. I got paint at my local Michael's craft store and got my carving tools from Amazon here.

I started by drawing my design with a pencil free hand. I was able to make changes if I didn't like how it was coming out. Not an artist? You can download printable and just trace it on your pumpkin.

Once you love your idea, grab a sharpie and draw he final lines. This was helpful to trace where I was going to make the cuts.

I used a tool to pike small holes first to make the carving and cutting a little easier.

Start by cutting a hole on top so you can scoop up the insides. Separate the guts from seed and roast the seeds later.

Carve out the details

When the design gets intricate it becomes tricky to scoop out the guts. I used a smaller knife like tool to make the shapes I needed.

Painting

This is a bonus move. I wanted to showcase some color on my pumpkin, especially since I went with a white pumpkin. I painted over the pencil marks then for a pop outlined with the sharpie.

Have fun with it!

DIY Cloth Pumpkin

Want a quick and easy pumpkin decor craft? Here is fun activity even the kids can join in on

Supplies

Square (8"x8”) material (buffalo plaid gives a festive feel)

Roll of toliet paper

Piece of green ribbon

Cinnamon stick

How to

1. Unravel the Toliet paper about 6-8 times

2. Twist it together then back around the roll

3. Fold a piece under the rolled part to secure the paper in place

How to

4. Place in the fluffy roll in the middle of fabric

5. Roll a corner of fabric up and into the center of the toliet paper roll

6. Repeat all the way around

How to

7. Tie The green ribbon in a knot

8. Place Cinnamon stick in the middle of knotted ribbon

9. Place stick in the TP roll as the pumpkin stem

And you are done! Super easy! No pins, no glue, no mess!!

DIY Conversation Heart Piñatas

Get ready for Valentine’s Day & Galentine’s Day with this fun do it yourself project!

Supplies

1. Small box of chocolate

2. Streamers in pink, red or purple

3. Felt in similar colors

4. Glue

5. Scissors

Create the piñata fringe

I double the streamers to make sure the top of the chocolate box doesn’t show through. Then just snip halfway up to create the fringe.

Clean up the fringe

Create the conversation

Measure out the size of the felt to create the fun sayings on heart. Keep the color different from the streamer.

Cut out the words

I tried to keep the words to 3 to 4 letters so it would be big enough to read and easy to cut out.

Glue on

And there you have it!

Create & Cultivate Miami Vision Summit

Create & Cultivate is an online platform and offline conference for women looking to create & cultivate the career of their dreams. I stumbled upon this brand last year at a pop up at the Aerie store in Miami Beach. I’ve been searching for where I wanted my career to go and finding my passion, so I felt like listening to inspirational successful women was perfect!

I began following @CreateCultivate on Instagram. Thumbing through the inspirational quotes, beautifully curated images and product endorsements I saw they were having a special conference in Miami! The Vision Summit. An all day conference with multiple panels, Q&A with successful female entrepreneurs, unique photo opportunities, and a chance to try women owned products!

I gave myself a goal: network with fellow females and learn from them. I asked friends if they wanted to join me and no one was committing to the price tag but I decided to go alone anyway. I was nervous, second guessing if I should drive an hour plus by myself to this, was it worth it? I’m glad I went with the YOLO mentality and purchased my ticket early, dismissing any questioning thoughts. I joined the Facebook group and saw there was a WhatsApp chat for ladies attending the event. I hesitated for a bit but then requested to join. I put it out there that I was off on the Friday before and was willing to drive down for Art Basel events. To my surprise a few girls were in town early, wanted to meet up explore the art and get together for happy hour and dinner! Before I even went to the event, I felt like I had new friends and would be going with a new found tribe!

Role Models

The Miami Vision Summit was an all day event. Multiple panels with industry leaders like Maria Molland, CEO of Thinx (yes, I was convinced to get a pair of period panties and yes, there will be a blog about the experience coming soon) who took on a role in a company in the midst of controversy. Then I had a chance to not only hear Daina Trout, CEO and co-founder of Health-Ade Kombucha, speak but I also got to meet her! Her story hit me directly. She was in a corporate job, climbing the ladder but just not feeling fulfilled. Something spoke to her, telling her something bigger was out there and it was time to be her own boss.

Another inspiration was Alexia Brue, founder of Well + Good. I love her blog, social pages and how she has taken wellness to the forefront. Hearing how these women came up with ideas and ran with them gives me such a spirit to go and reach for any and all dreams. There was a special Q&A with Venus Williams. So much talent both on and off the courts. But, my favorite panel was the very last one! I was looking forward to hearing Diane Guerrero from Orange is the New Black. I heard about her book “In the Country We Love: My Family Divided” which describes how her parents were detained and deported while she was in school. I knew hearing her speak would be moving. Expressing how she chose to use her platform and her voice for not only women but women of color was powerful. In the same panel Jaime Chung told the story about how while being unemployed she started her blog “What the Chung” and how persistence helped her grow into the success she is today. Talk about goals! It was a very diverse panel. The overall message was how women can help each other and hold the doors open for one another. Don’t let no stop you, keep going.

Now, there is always has to be a mix of learning and fun right? Well C&C gave the perfect balance. Amika & Living Proof had a beauty bar set up with stylists doing gorgeous braids, curls and makeup touch ups. NuSkin did mini cleansing facials with their Lumispa and I’m totally sold on the products! They have detachable heads, one for full face and another for the eye area, it works wonders! Weebly had a woman hand lettering custom notebooks and an inspirational postcard  station. And LaCroix hired Lindsey Kate Illustrations to do custom fashion illustrations. I waited an hour to have this done and it was worth every minute! I felt like a fashion model, it was incredible to see her work.

“The next Create & Cultivate event has been announced. May 4th - New York! I’m tempted to fly out and enjoy another amazing weekend. YOLO? ”